Cold Snap Death Toll Rises Across Europe

This may not be a breaking news in Malaysia. But as told by my friend, who is a Consultant at the local Birmingham Childrens Hospital’s Community Child & Adolescent Mental Health service in his Christmas Greeting to me recently, temperature in Birmingham goes to subzero, freezing cold, almost a disaster. Read this:

FREEZING WEATHER brought further disruption across vast swathes of northern Europe as the death toll from the unusually severe cold snap, mainly among homeless men, continued to climb.

As forecasters warned of dangerous conditions continuing today, commuters and air travellers bore the brunt of the cold, snow and ice, while demand soared for home-heating energy.

The bad weather is expected to last for another two weeks, draining European gas supplies. Britain’s national grid warned that record gas demand might exceed supply for the second time this week after a drop in supplies from Norway, as dozens of big industrial users switched to other fuels to ensure heating for households.

The deaths from the cold include 122 people in Poland, 22 in Britain, nine homeless men in Germany, and 22 people who were killed by avalanches in the Swiss Alps.

Yesterday thousands of schools closed and thousands of homes were left without electricity in Britain, while 17 rail service providers said they were hit by delays or cancellations.

A Eurostar passenger train travelling between Brussels and London was stuck in the Channel Tunnel. The train, which was carrying 236 passengers, had to be dragged from the tunnel by a rescue locomotive, leading to a suspension of services.

Flights were disrupted at airports in Britain, France, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. In Britain EasyJet cancelled 73 flights, Ryanair cancelled four while British Airways also warned of cancellations.